Need a datavis team? You may already have one

We're honoured to welcome our friend and datavis expert, Andrea Lau of Small Multiples, to show us what it takes to round up a great data visualisation team.

A data visualisation team is a digital design team with a focus on data. Together, this team can work to create anything from a fully dynamic and interactive website, to a datavis widget, an informative poster, or a static infographic for social media.

The people you'll find on a datavis team are: the communicator, the data wrangler, the designer, and the coder.

For each datavis role above, we’ll list the current roles people might have, and the software or skills they will have and know. We’ll try and list software that is already being used, or open source software, to get your team up and running will minimal fuss.

The communicator

The communicator in a data visualisation finds how to use data and information to tell a story. The communicator engages the data wrangler to help find the data to tell the story, and keeps the team on course during the project.

Data visualisation often begins with a story, from which the data you need follows. Other times, looking into data without thinking about the story might unearth some surprises (more about that next).

The communicator helps to understand:

the audience for your data visualisation

what information will be useful to them

what sort of presentation is desired, and

how this matches your organisation’s business requirements.

For example, a communicator might talk to stakeholders and determine that managers in the organisation need to show the impact of sustainable practices and their effects through an interactive tool so that the business can reduce their environmental impact.

The communicator may also be the designer, or the data wrangler (and, if you're lucky, the coder, too!)

Data wrangler

The data wrangler in a data visualisation project would work with the communicator to help build the story, with the coder to prototype data visualisations, and with the designer to ensure accuracy of the representation.

Data can come in top-down or bottom-up. Top-down data is already known, eg. we know the organisation has electricity, water, and recycling bills and records to use. Bottom-up data found during the data research phase casts new light onto the topic, eg. an organisation might keep a log of when computers turn off and log out of the network.

The data wrangler may also be the communicator, and possibly the coder.

The designer

The designer in a data visualisation project has a particular emphasis on keeping the data representation accurate, and the hierarchy of the information clear.

The designer creates a visual story and interface that people will see and interact with. The designer takes the brief and understanding provided by the communicator, transforming a mixture of content and data provided by the data wrangler into a coherent visualisation.

The designer:

has a sketching and wireframing process to act as a document for the team

If you don’t have a designer, replace with: the communicator using a presentation or drawing tool.

The coder

The coder in a data visualisation project has a particular emphasis on being part of the formation of the story with the communicator and data wrangler, and ensuring the data is accurately translated during development.

The coder takes the data and transforms it into something usable and accessible.

The coder has two key roles:

As a prototyper to help the data wrangler find trends and patterns in the data

If you don’t have a coder, replace with: the data wrangler who can use statistical packages or spreadsheets, or the designer who can do some maths in their drawing package.

Small Multiples is a data visualisation studio based in Surry Hills. Filled with a team of data visualisation specialists, UI and UX designers, visual designers, and developers, we create ways to help people find value in data.

About the author

Pili is a content writer and strategist. Her background in corporate advisory, coupled with a degree in English Literature puts her in the unique position of being able to understand what’s important to businesses and to communicate those messages to audiences and customers.